Sackville Street’s Gaelic League
Archived: 9 October 2026
In 1893, Gladstone’s second Home Rule Bill proposed an Irish legislature within the Union, retaining Westminster supremacy, imperial responsibilities and Irish representation. Despite Commons approval, it was overwhelmingly rejected by the Lords, exposing constitutional limits and intensifying unionist fears. On 31 July, Douglas Hyde, Eoin MacNeill and others founded the non-sectarian Gaelic League in Dublin to revive spoken Irish through classes, publications and branches, amid language decline. The year also reflected religious and social organisation: Archbishop Michael Logue became cardinal, St Mel’s Cathedral was consecrated, Margaret Lyttle began a girls’ club, and the National Labour League highlighted rural workers’ grievances.
